This Weekend, Trnkobraní Takes Over Vizovice
Trnkobraní is changing after 11 years; the two-day festival is now going back to being a three-day event while embracing its original purpose of celebrating trnks and regional culture. It will be happening in Vizovice from Friday, August 22 to Sunday, August 24 and marks the 56th annual music festival. The program will traditionally be hosted at the Rudolf Jelinek liquor factory’s grounds. This festival serves as a multi-genre cultural platform showcasing performances from leading acts in the Czech and Slovak music scene across two stages, along with a theatre stage and a kids’ area. The event aims to be enjoyable for families of all kinds. Trnkobraní is committed to providing comfortable accommodation. There’s a paid VIP camping area that is secure, fenced, guarded, and illuminated, complete with a 24-hour reception, charging stations for phones, hot showers, washrooms, and sanitary facilities with regular cleaning services.
This year’s festival will feature popular bands like MIG 21, Queenie, Michal Hrůza, O5 and Radeček, Slza, Kamil Střihavka, Děda Mládek Illegal Band and, naturally, the local favorite Fleret, featuring Zuzana Šuláková.
The music will be complemented by a variety of activities inspired by Wallachian traditions: a brand-new competition “Take the Thorn to the Clouds”, and a contest on bagel eating, lessons in odzemek dance, showcases like “Cooking from Spines”, school baking frgal, a beer-tapping contest, guided tours through the distillery and orchards, and the chance to sample a basket of slivovitz or experience virtual reality that allows attendees to step into the role of a thorn for a brief time. There will also be lots of fun activities for children, film screenings, and a Carnival featuring Pipi, alongside the popular Guitar Band and demonstrations of IZS equipment, as well as races for the Barum Rally Special.
The goal of the Vizovice Trnkobraní festival is to highlight cultural, craft, and local traditions of Vizovice and the Wallachia region. Adults and children alike can enjoy sightseeing tours like the Trnkovláček and the Trnkobus, a craft fair, a mini-farm featuring livestock, folk tradition workshops where you can learn to make Vizovice pastries and prune figures, or join a special guided tour exploring the local distilling traditions. A castle night event will be conducted at Vizovice Castle, and local restaurants will offer local specialties, including those made with plums, while unique open days at the Glass Atelier Morava glassworks and at Koma Modular will provide opportunities to see their renowned Expo pavilion from Milan. To ensure comfy travel for visitors, there will be a night service running from Zlín to Vizovice at 2:15 AM on the Saturday and Sunday nights.
Who will win the dumpling eating contest?
One of the highlights of the Trnkobraní festival is the much-loved plum dumpling eating contest, which is open to everyone. This year, it will take place on Sunday from 1 PM to 2 PM on the main stage. The tradition of eating dumplings in Vizovice goes back to 1972 and has attracted significant media coverage. The plum dumpling eating event will once again feature live performances. The long-time Czech champion was Mr. Kamil Hamerský from Vir, who devoured 191 dumplings in 2003, challenged in 2018 by Radim Dvořáček from Ostrava, who managed an astonishing 202 dumplings, setting a then-national record. In 2024, Mr. Dvořáček surpassed his earlier record, successfully eating 228 sloe dumplings in one hour! This remains the best performance in this contest and the current world record is held by Patrik Bertoletti from the USA, who consumed 233 dumplings back in 2008. Will anyone manage to break it this year? Mr. Radim Dvořáček, a five-time champion, will be back again!
As part of unique guided excursions at the Rudolf Jelinek liquor factory during the festival, visitors can explore the distillery or the slivovitz museum. Attendees can look forward to distillery tours, a craft fair, workshops about folk traditions, and open days at local companies. Tickets for Trnkobraní will be available at the gate for 1200 crowns to access the full weekend’s activities, with separate prices of 600 crowns for Friday, 700 crowns for Saturday, and no entrance fee on Sunday. Discounts are provided for kids, seniors, and people with disabilities.
